King

I have food on hand and mines at home, so I don’t feel panicked.

According to the current cleaning speed, production can be resumed as soon as next month. Unfortunately, the territory has fewer young and capable labor force, making it difficult to increase production capacity.

Thick blue smoke rose and fell into Hudson's eyes, which was particularly pleasing to the eye. This is an essential prerequisite for resuming mine production, making charcoal.

I saw the miners skillfully placing the chopped wood into the charcoal kiln, covering it with soil to leave a opening for ignition, and then pouring the burning charcoal into it.

There were two workers beside him, holding huge rice dumpling leaves and fanning them constantly.

It can be seen that in the era of existing productivity, the charcoal making process has matured.

The air supply method is primitive, that's because it used magic technology, a device similar to a blower.

It was destroyed due to the war and could not find a replacement for a while, which directly caused the air supply mode to return to the primitive era.

There’s no need to count on magic technology, it won’t be available for a while. Hudson had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and use bellows instead.

He has explained the manual bellows process and arranged for people to make it. However, the process is not yet mature and the practicality of the product needs to be improved.

If nothing else happens, it will be difficult for mines to use magical black technology for a long time to come.

Everything comes from cost. Compared with expensive magic devices, labor is really cheap.

Installing an alchemical version of the blower is enough to buy ten young slaves. The most annoying thing is that this thing needs magic crystal to drive it, but what Hudson lacks the most is magic crystal.

The baron's small quota is not enough to support his own cultivation, so how can it be wasted here?

If the efficiency is lower, just lower it. Anyway, the labor cost is cheap enough. Using human bellows instead will be even cheaper economically.

Without any time to make further plans, Hudson received news from his family that officials demarcating the boundary line had set out and would arrive in Wright County soon.

I don't know where to start first, and I'm not sure when I will arrive in my own territory. The only thing I can do is to stay at home and stop running around.

If someone comes and the owner is not at home, it will be great fun. With the style of the bureaucrats in the Governor's Mansion, they would not wait for their master to come back. If the owner is not at home, people can do the work on the map.

As for the parties involved, whether they are satisfied with the outcome has never been a consideration for them.

If you have strong personal connections, you can also find connections and re-categorize them. Those who have no connections, no background, and no strength will have no choice but to admit defeat.

Although Hudson is not a three-pointer, he is not that awesome either. There is indeed some personal connection and background, but it is not enough for someone from the Governor's Mansion to make a trip alone.

As for strength, it is purely a matter of business. Hudson's reputation as the "Knight of the Divine Bow" was mainly due to the hard publicity of his teammates.

In order to consolidate his military exploits, his achievements were exaggerated as much as possible. Especially in the battle of annihilating the Holy See cavalry, they clearly killed 500 people, but they were blown up to 3,000.

Maybe they thought it was too exaggerated, and no one believed it. Finally, they gave a unified explanation: 1,000 elite cavalry of the Holy See and 2,000 main rebels were wiped out.

The so-called "managing troops like gods" is purely based on the rebels' incompetent command ability. This cannot be concealed from those who are interested.

If he is really as awesome as the rumors say, then if Hudson stomps his foot, the Southeast Province will also tremble.

There is no doubt that the Southeast Province, where the Dalton family is the master, does not allow such awesome creatures to exist. Once they appear, they will either be included or strangled.

The fact that Hudson can still live so carefree is enough to prove how serious the rumors are. It's okay to scare the small and medium-sized nobles, but it can't scare the people in the Governor's Mansion at all.

…

"Uncle Sikollari, Uncle Baggins, Uncle Siludi..."

A series of uncles called him down, and Hudson felt a little numb. The people who came to preside over the division of the fiefdom were all friends of the Koslow family. He didn't think this was a coincidence.

Either the Governor's Mansion is engaged in fishing law enforcement; or the Governor's Mansion deliberately creates opportunities for them to seek selfish gains in the division of fiefdoms.

After a little thought, Hudson quickly made a judgment.

This is not how fishing law enforcement works. As a privileged aristocrat, it is not a serious crime to just engage in favoritism in the division of fiefdoms.

The most serious consequence is to lose one's official position and redraw the boundary lines.

If you are more careful and leave no obvious loopholes in the procedure, you won't even be punished.

Unless someone is crazy, no one would put so much effort into planning just to get a painless punishment.

If it is the latter, it is estimated that the future of Wright and Wyton counties will be uneven. Neighbors are already prone to conflicts, but with a governor who is dedicated to digging holes and laying mines, it is strange that there can be no disputes.

The welcome banquet was very shabby. Although Hudson had tried his best, the food in the territory was too simple, and even the banquet was held in the open air.

There was no way. The mining area was too remote and did not receive the attention of the previous lord. There were no decent buildings nearby.

The few stone houses were used to store food and pig iron, and they were not worthy of noble status at all.

Fortunately, everyone who came was considered "one of our own", otherwise I would have been put in the shoes of someone else just with this kind of treatment.

They were old acquaintances who had interacted with each other before. After a few glasses of wine, everyone became more and more relaxed.

"Hudson, your territory is too remote, why not choose a big, wealthy town?"

Baron Sikollari asked doubtfully.

This is also a question that many people in the aristocratic circle have. Everyone has only two impressions of the Salam Mountains - barren land and mineral deposits.

Having mines is indeed an advantage, but it cannot make up for the disadvantage of poor land. Also engaged in agricultural production, the yield per mu in the Salam Mountains is only 70% of that in the plains.

The labor input is equivalent, maybe even more, and the yield gap is still so huge. The cost-effectiveness of growing grain is obviously not high.

The income from mining alone is an advantage in the short term, but it is a disadvantage in the long run.

Once the mine is mined, the surrounding land will be polluted. I am afraid that even 70% of the food output will be difficult to maintain by then.

For nobles who are accustomed to permanently taking root in one place, they must consider the long-term development of their territory. In order to maintain sustainable agricultural production, some nobles would not mine even if they knew there were mines underground.

"Uncle Sikolari, the Salam Mountains are indeed a bit remote, and the food output is also low, but the advantage is that it covers a large area!

Except for the mining area marked on the map, there are only three peripheral knights on the map. The remaining hundreds of hills are unclaimed land, and the area is almost as large as half of Wright County.

Although the development cost is relatively high and the price/performance ratio is not very good, it still has development value. If it is fully developed and supplemented by quantity, you will definitely not lose money.

Of course, this requires a huge investment of manpower, material and financial resources. Without decades of long-term investment, it’s hard to see results.

What really made me choose the Salaam Mountains was the upcoming situation in Wright and Wyton counties.

In order to move south, the nobles of Northern Xinjiang did not hesitate to offend the Dalton family. Obviously, not just a few baronies could satisfy their appetite.

Koslow is just a small family. Once it conflicts with these northern military nobles, it will be difficult to gain any advantage in terms of force.

Although a prosperous central town is good, it must be defended. If the family behind them continues to increase their investment, I will not be able to consume them. "

Half-truths and half-false explanations are the most convincing. After all, they were following the Governor. In terms of information control, these people in front of them were still better.

Earl Pierce's fear of the nobles of Northern Xinjiang was nakedly displayed. Naturally, their younger brothers did not dare to take it lightly.

The more you know, the more you know awe. No one was surprised by Hudson's remarks.

After all, the Koslow family also originated in the North. It is normal to have some understanding of the strength of the northern Xinjiang nobles.

“Indeed, although those guys in the north are annoying, their strength is still amazing.

If they were allowed to gain a firm foothold, not only would the two counties of Wright and Wyton be unstable, but the entire southeastern province would also find it difficult to remain peaceful.

But Hudson, you are too cautious. Even if those guys from Northern Xinjiang come to cause trouble, they will not attack your Koslow family first.

As the most prosperous family in the kingdom, the combined strength of your many branches is not weak, and you also have the support of the local nobles in the southeastern provinces.

If a conflict breaks out between the two parties, it's not certain who will suffer in the end and who will take advantage! "

Baron Sikollari said with a smile.

Just tell Hudson directly, go ahead and do it boldly, the Governor's Mansion will support you.

Of course, there's no point in saying it. The Koslow family is not stupid, war will kill people, and fighting against the northern nobles who are going south will only waste the family's human, financial and material resources, and take advantage of the fishermen on the side.

If you win the battle, the most you can collect is a ransom, which won't even be enough to fund the war. With his background and background, dealing with the aftermath is not a problem at all.

Losing would be even worse, not to mention heavy casualties, and maybe even the foundation would be lost.

Normal people would not touch a business that is destined to lose money.